As I rode down to Galway town to seek for recreation
On the seventeenth of August my heart was elevated
There were multitudes assembled with their tickets at the station
Me eyes began to dazzle and I’m going to see the races
With me whack-fa-the-da-for-the-diddle-ee-iddle-day

There were passengers from Limerick and passengers from Nenagh
The boys of Connemara and the flair of married Ladies
There were people from Cork City who were loyal true and faithful
Who brought home the Fenian prisoners from dying in foreign nations

It's there you'll see the pipers and the fiddlers competing
The nimble footed dancers a-tripping o’er the daisies
There were others crying cigars and lights and bills for all the races
Colours of the jockeys and the prize and horses' ages.

It's there you'll see the jockeys and they're mounted out so stately
The pink, the blue, the orange and green, the emblem of our nation
When the bell was rung for starting, all the horses seemed impatient
I thought they never stood on ground their speed was so amazing.

There was half a million people there from all denominations
The Catholic, the Protestant, the Jew, and Presbyterian
There was yet no animosity, no matter what persuasion
But sportsman's hospitality and induce of fresh acquaintance